Storage cabinets are conventionally utilized in offices wherein a boxlike cabinet housing is provided with a front opening, and a door is positionable over the opening for closing of the cabinet. The door is conventionally mounted on the cabinet by a support which permits the door to be swung upwardly about an axis disposed in the vicinity of its upper edge into an open position, and then moved generally linearly into a storage position wherein the door is disposed directly above and in substantially parallel relationship to the cabinet top wall.
In one conventional cabinet known as a "flipper" door cabinet, the door is supported such that it hinges upwardly into an open position and then moves linearly rearwardly so as to be stored and supported directly above the cabinet top wall when the door is in a fully opened position. Various hinge-type support mechanisms are provided for connecting the door to the cabinet housing, which support mechanisms often employ elongated hinge-type telescopic ball slide mechanisms.
As a variation, other known cabinets move the door horizontally linearly rearwardly into a storage position wherein the door is supported directly under the cabinet top wall when the door is in the fully opened position. Again, the door is connected to the cabinet housing using hinge-type support mechanisms which may assume many different conventional types, such as hinge-type telescopic ball slide mechanisms or gear-rack mechanisms.
The known cabinets, as briefly described above, generally provide for storage of the door solely either above or below the cabinet top wall, and thus manufacturers must provide two significantly different cabinets depending upon whether the customer desires either an over or under door-storage cabinet. This increases the manufacturing costs and complexities, and more importantly restricts the flexibility and adaptability of the cabinet by the customer with respect to modifications or adaptations required for most efficient usage. That is, if a customer determines that a below door-storage cabinet is not suitable for a particular condition due to changing needs, then the below door-storage cabinet must be removed and replaced by an over door-storage cabinet. This often requires that the customer purchase a second cabinet, or in the alternative the customer continues to use the original cabinet even though it is not fully suited for current requirements.
Accordingly, the present invention relates to improvements in cabinets of the above-described type, which cabinet can be readily adapted either during initial assembly or by subsequent modification so as to permit adjustment of the top wall between two different positions and corresponding adjustment of the hingetype support mechanism between two different positions so that the same cabinet arrangement can be readily positioned to perform either as an over door-storage or an under door-storage cabinet. That is, the door when in its fully opened position can be stored directly above the top wall when the top wall is in one of two selectable positions, and alternatively the door can be stored directly under the top wall when the latter is mounted in its other predetermined position.
More specifically, in the improved cabinet of the present invention, the side walls have recesses formed therein adjacent upper edges thereof and in communication with inner side surfaces. The recesses fixedly but removably receive inserts which are vertically oriented in two different positions merely by vertically rotatably positioning the inserts relative to the side walls and then securing the inserts within the respective recesses. Each insert mounts thereon an elongate gear rack which extends in the front-to-back direction of the side wall, and which is oriented either upwardly or downwardly, depending upon the selected position of the insert. The cabinet top wall extends between the side walls and mounts to the opposed inserts, with the top wall being disposed either substantially flush with the upper edges of the side walls or spaced downwardly a small extent therefrom, depending upon the vertical orientation of the inserts. A door is positioned in front of the cabinet housing and extends horizontally between the side walls, with the door mounting thereon a gear arrangement adjacent the upper edge thereof. The gear arrangement can be rotatably mounted on the door in one of two predetermined vertically-spaced positions depending upon the vertical orientation of the inserts. The gear arrangement includes a shaft which is rotatably supported on and extends lengthwise of the door and has gear wheels secured thereto, which gear wheels are maintained in meshing engagement with the gear racks associated with the inserts. Depending upon the selected vertical orientation of the inserts and the corresponding position of the top wall and of the gear arrangement, the door will move into a open storage position disposed below the top wall when the latter is in an upper position substantially flush with the upper edges of the side walls, and will move into a horizontal storage position disposed above the top wall when the inserts are oriented such that the top wall is mounted in downwardly spaced relationship from the upper edges of the side walls.
With the improved arrangement of the present invention, the same cabinet components can be utilized to permit storage of the door either above or below the cabinet top wall, and in fact the cabinet can be readily modified to permit storage of the door either above or below the top wall merely by minor structural modifications which permit such adaptation to be made in a simple and time efficient manner.
Other objects and purposes of the present invention will be apparent to persons familiar with assemblies of this general type upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.